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Nearly a dozen UGA fraternity members charged with hazing

University of Georgia police on Thursday obtained arrest warrants charging 11 members of a local fraternity with hazing.

The charges stemmed from a recent incident involving members of UGA’s Zeta Iota chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi. They allegedly beat pledges as part of their initiation, according to UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson.

“We began an investigation after we were provided with information by Student Affairs that someone was possibly injured during a pledge event,” he said.

The incident happened on Jan. 27 and police were notified the next day.

“At that point we were able to identify who the fraternity’s pledges were and when we contacted them it became apparent that there were a number of activities where pledges were being struck with fists,” the police chief said. “There were some physical injuries, but nothing that required medical treatment.”

He said the alleged hazing happened at the home of a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, which does not have a fraternity house.

Police on Thursday notified all fraternity members named in the warrants in order to give them an opportunity to turn themselves in, Williamson said.

The identities of the charged fraternity members were to be made public on Friday, Williamson said.

The police chief said there were more than one hazing victim, but each fraternity member was charged with a single count of hazing because police considered the activity to be a single event.

Under Georgia law, hazing is a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, punishable by a maximum penalty of 12 months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

UGA has a zero-tolerance policy concerning hazing, but fraternities are disciplined from time to time.

In 2010, for example, UGA’s Lambda chapter of Pi Kappa Phi agreed to a yearlong suspension following allegations that members paddled pledges during a fall initiation.

Hazing has been in the national spotlight as the result of the November 2011 death of Robert Champion Junior, a Florida A&M University drum major. Authorities say he died after a band hazing ritual in which he was beaten aboard a school bus after a football game in Orlando, Fla. The initiation reportedly required pledges to run down the center of the bus while being punched, kicked and assaulted with instruments by senior members.

Fifteen former FAMU band members were charged with manslaughter and hazing. Seven have been sentenced to combinations of probation and community service, two pleaded no contest and are awaiting sentencing, and a June trial has been scheduled for the remaining former band members.